Commissioners get Juvenile Department update

ALBANY — Although Linn County’s Juvenile Detention Center shares a campus with the Oak Creek Oregon Youth Authority facility on Lochner Road in Albany, the two operations are separate, Juvenile Director Torri Lynn told Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker Tuesday morning.

The commissioners inquired about operations during Lynn’s regular monthly report, after Gov. Tina Kotek recently put Oregon Youth Authority Director Joe O’Leary on paid administrative leave.

At issue is that several hundred complaints from OYA youth which have not been investigated.

Lynn said that other than the county’s horticulture staff member teaching a class to girls at the OYA facility at certain times of the year, the two programs run completely separate staff and programs, even though they are on the same campus.

Lynn said that if there was an emergency situation, staff members from each facility would work together.

Board Chairman Nyquist praised Lynn and his staff for having many years of experience running the local facility and keeping programs working at an even keel.

“Some of our most at-risk youth in Linn County have benefitted greatly from Torri's outstanding leadership over the last 20 years,” Nyquist said after the meeting.

Although it is called the Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention Center, the 20-bed facility also accepts young people from Marion, Clackamas and Lincoln counties, with those counties renting bed spaces.

Lynn said his department received 35 referrals in January, which included 12 cases were for dependency and 14 cases were criminally oriented.

There were 194 youth in the Probation Unit, of which 35 are considered high-risk.

Lynn said there are 90 young people in the Community Programs Unit, serving on informal probation.

The county’s Victim Advocate made 126 contacts in January.

Eight young people in the Tier I work group completed 117 hours of community service over nine project days. January 2024, eight young people completed 147 hours of community service during the same time period.

The 24 young people in the Tier II group completed almost 472 hours of community service over 16 project days. In January 2024, nine youth completed 125 hours of community service.

Overall in January, 24 Linn County youth were held for 250 days; two Benton County youth were held for two days; four young people from Lincoln County were held for 68 days; and three young persons from Marion County were held for 12 days of care.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Approved two bridge bids at the recommendation of the Road Department. Cascade Civil Corp of Redmond, was the low bidder for the Cox Creek, Goldfish Farm Road Bridge Project at $2,417,183. The engineer’s estimate was $2,657,876.49. Farline Bridge Inc. of Stayton submitted the low bid of $1,071,818.43 for the Owl Creek, Peoria Road Bridge Project. The engineer’s estimate was $1,187,893.50. There were six bidders for each project. Those bids were opened at last week’s meeting, they reviewed by Road Department staff to ensure they comply with rules and regulations.
• Had the second reading and codification of an ordinance 2025-064 that will allow Linn County Parks to control campfires in parks during high-fire season and to recoup damages caused by smoking or vaping in county parks facilities.
• Accepted an Oregon Department of Transportation Capital 5339 Funding grant not to exceed $259,250. Funds will support the Senior Citizens of Sweet Home/Linn Shuttle/Dial-A-Bus program to purchase new vehicles.
• Approved Pinnacle Architects for architectural and engineering services for renovation a portion of the 7^th Street Medical Building into a Crisis Stabilization Center within the Linn County Public Health Department.
• Approved a contract between Linn County Public Health and Linn-Benton Community College not to exceed $22,445. Linn County will provide Family Support Services to disadvantaged families in Linn County.

Media contact: Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer, 541-967-3825 or email apaul@co.linn.or.us.